Leave vote would delay benefits for tech companies eager for a single patent.

A Brexit victory would totally ruin the timeline for the long-planned EU unitary patent due to come into force in early 2017, the president of the European Patent Office has told Ars.

“If the ‘out’ vote wins then we have a big question mark—nobody knows what will happen,” Benoît Battistelli said.

The so-called unitary patent is expected to offer dramatic savings over the traditional European patent as there will be no need to approach each country individually. In addition, a single European Union patent court will be established. “The Unitary Patent Court (UPC) is needed because if you have a unitary patent, you need a unified litigation system. It should not be possible that a court in France would decide on a case in the UK, or vice versa,” said Battistelli.

“So the countries involved have decided through a treaty—not an EU regulation—to create a UPC. I think it is not well understood what a step forward this will be, because for the first time there will be an international court that will be competent for litigation between private parties,” he added.

Further Reading

The Court of Justice of the European Union, it's worth noting, only rules in litigation between public entities.

As a treaty, the plan requires ratification by at least 13 parliaments (half of the 26 countries involved) which must include the three biggest parties: Germany, France, and the UK. Ten countries have already ratified including France.

“Germany has already notified that it will ratify this year and we have four or five others that are in the pipeline. So, depending on the UK, we will be ready to deliver the first unitary patent early next year,” said Battistelli. “But it really depends on our dear friends in the UK,” he joked.

“Before the announcement of the UK referendum, the government committed to ratify in 2016, now of course it will probably depend on this referendum. If the ‘in’ vote wins, then I think the UK will ratify. If not, it will, at the very least delay matters. The UK will continue to be a formal EU member for the next few years and will have to negotiate the modalities of exit. And, as a formal member of the EU, until the UK ratifies we cannot have a unitary patent,” he said.

If the UK officially leaves the EU, Italy will become the third biggest player.